Having an afternoon on the town.

This is a holiday week in China. Hardly anyone works except service employees from Oct. 1-7. The streets of Beijing are delightfully free of gridlock traffic.

The parks are full of strollers as we enjoy a last bit of beautiful autumn weather. You can see from the photo above Beijingers dancing in Jingshan Park, just north of the Forbidden City, where we took visiting relatives over the weekend.

Winter is coming. Already our housing complex has announced it will be testing the public heating system from Oct. 12 to 14. As in most foreign housing compounds, central authorities control the heat. We don’t have individual thermostats. If it’s too hot in the apartment in winter, we just have to open the window. In mid-winter, it’s not unusual to see windows open throughout Beijing.

But at least we get heat by Oct. 15. Most compounds and buildings where Chinese live don’t get heat until Nov. 15 even if late October is freezing. Then the heat is cut off March 15, again even if it is chilly.

Strolling around Beijing, I noticed this man snoozing in his tricycle. There are not many places to rest in public. So people here do what they can when they find a spot.

Hey, isn't it time for a siesta?

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